What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...
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sixret
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by sixret »

Well done, Eddie! :D
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The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Courtenay »

All right, everyone, I've just run across a previously undiscovered treasure trove (well, at least I certainly didn't know about it beforehand)...

I'm currently having a quiet couple of days in Norwich, and along beautiful Elm Hill — the best preserved medieval street in the city — I discovered the Dormouse Bookshop. Funny, I don't remember going in there before, although I've visited Norwich several times and I'm sure the bookshop was always there (it doesn't look new); I guess I just didn't take much notice, for some reason.

Anyway, I had the thought of going in to see what their collection of classic children's books is like. It's BIG — a row of huge bookcases right in front of your face as you walk in the door — and there are LOTS of Blytons and heaps of other well-known authors. I would venture to say it's on a par with Alton Secondhand Books, at least. :D

What hit me in the eye almost as soon as I started browsing the Blytons was the trio of Naughtiest Girl books — all in excellent condition with dust jackets. They're all 1960s editions, but presumably identical to the originals, or nearly so (I don't mind if there are very minor changes). In fact, they all have the same name written neatly inside them — Karen Bedson — so she must have collected the set and kept them in such good nick. (I wonder where she is now and how her books ended up in a secondhand shop, rather than being passed down fondly to her children or other young relatives? Maybe she fell for the old lie that Enid Blyton books are babyish and smart people grow out of reading them... :P :wink: )

Anyway, I have been wanting to read the Naughtiest Girl series for ages — it's another one I missed as a child — and here are the three main books (yes, I know there's a fourth that was added later) in brilliant condition... £10 each. Sold. AND the Third Enid Blyton Magazine Annual, also with dust jacket in good condition for £12.50, which I debated over for a long while — it's not one I really need for myself — but I was eventually won over by the thought that my mum will just love it for Christmas. :wink:

I told the gentleman behind the counter that I'm a member of the Enid Blyton Society and would let our online forum know he has such a great selection, so he'll be hoping for more custom from us. If any of you happen to be in Norwich, don't miss this place! Highly recommended!! :D :D :D

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(Here's a photo — courtesy of TripAdvisor — just so you can see what a gorgeous little street Elm Hill is. The Dormouse Bookshop is the pink building on the left. The white building with the pointed roof in the background, by the way, is the Britons Arms cafe, my favourite place to have lunch in Norwich. Right, I'll stop the advertising now. 8) )
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Chrissie777 »

Courtenay wrote: Here's a photo — courtesy of TripAdvisor — just so you can see what a gorgeous little street Elm Hill is. The Dormouse Bookshop is the pink building on the left. The white building with the pointed roof in the background, by the way, is the Britons Arms cafe, my favourite place to have lunch in Norwich. Right, I'll stop the advertising now. 8) )
Courtenay, Elm Hill looks gorgeous!!! 8)
I hope we can include it in May 2018 to our trip.
Chrissie

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Courtenay
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Courtenay »

I hope you can too, Chrissie! Norwich is a lovely little city — a bit out of the way of the more popular tourist areas in England, but very historic and well worth visiting.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by John Pickup »

Thanks for sharing that information, Courtenay. I hope to be spending some time in Norfolk next year and that's a brilliant recommendation. Well done with those purchases.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by pete9012S »

Yes, It does sound like a nice set up - a brilliant bookshop alongside a decent boozer/cafe. What more could you ask for! :D
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Eddie Muir »

Thanks for the Norwich link, Courtenay. I intend to add the information to my list of bookshops to visit.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by IceMaiden »

That sounds like a marvellous shop Courtenay, with great prices! I've not seen any of the Naughtiest Girl books with wrappers that cheap, especially ones in good condition - you got a bargain :D . I wonder if they take telephone orders and post items as I'm after some of the Holiday Books in dj's and a couple are proving very difficult and expensive to get hold of :( .
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Courtenay
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Courtenay »

pete9012S wrote:Yes, It does sound like a nice set up - a brilliant bookshop alongside a decent boozer/cafe. What more could you ask for! :D
I should advise that the Britons Arms isn't licensed — there are plenty of pubs and licensed cafes in the area as well, don't worry — but I can recommend their Cromer crab tart! :D They always have a good selection of cakes, too, and a lovely little terrace garden to sit in.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Rob Houghton »

Looks - and sounds - like a marvellous bookshop! rather sounds like Stella's Books in Tintern - which has literally hundreds of Enid Blyton books - many at quite reasonable prices.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Courtenay
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Courtenay »

This one didn't run to the hundreds, but certainly quite a lot of Enid and many, many other classic children's authors — more than a lot of secondhand bookshops I've seen, put it that way. I had Stella's on my list for an upcoming trip to Wales, but unfortunately that hasn't fitted in this year. Maybe next year...
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Chrissie777 »

Courtenay wrote:I hope you can too, Chrissie! Norwich is a lovely little city — a bit out of the way of the more popular tourist areas in England, but very historic and well worth visiting.
Courtenay, yesterday I requested the Collins Road Atlas for the UK at our public library to see if we want to purchase the newest edition via amazon.co.uk for our trip (as these GPS/navigation systems have a way of not working in rental cars every now and then).
If Norwich is near London on the way towards the Yorkshire Dales, Kidderminster and Bamburgh Castle/Northumberland, we might be able to include it. 8)

I seem to remember that Norwich has a famous cathedral?
Chrissie

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Rob Houghton
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Rob Houghton »

Kidderminster is near Worcester, which is just below where I live (well - about 22 miles from where I live in Kings Norton, Birmingham) but Norwich is further east, about 190 miles from Worcester! 8)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Courtenay
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by Courtenay »

Norwich Cathedral is beautiful and well worth visiting, Chrissie (I was there today too). It's not on the way to Yorkshire, though. You can see where it is in relation to York (and indeed Birmingham!) on this map:

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sixret
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Re: What Enid Blyton book have you recently bought?

Post by sixret »

Well done, Courtenay! :D
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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